It’s More Complicated Than “Legal vs. Illegal”: An Open Letter to Ruben Navarrette

Prerna Lal writes: "I enjoy your writing, probably more than most people. You hold President Obama accountable for his abhorrent immigration policies.  You stick it to the Republicans for hating on immigrants because their hate has to do with the color of our skin.  And you generally make a lot of sense.  But you are wrong when you say that “illegal immigrant” is the correct lexicon to use for people without proper immigration status because the shoe fits. The uncomfortable truth is not that “illegal immigrant” fits but that painting a wide range of complex immigration statuses with the broad brush of “illegal” is all too convenient, lazy and just plain wrong." - Prerna Lal, July 10, 2012.